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Matt Stanisz: OHL Grad Joins Manchester Storm In EIHL For 2017-18

After spending his first two years of pro hockey with three different teams in the ECHL, Ontario Hockey League grad Matt Stanisz will start 2017-18 in the United Kingdom’s Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) with the Manchester Storm. The Storm enter their third year in the league and are looking to improve on their eighth place finish in 2016-17.

Matt Stanisz

Matt Stanisz played parts of five years in the OHL from 2006-07 to 2010-11. His first four years were with the Barrie Colts and his final season was with the Owen Sound Attack. 2006-07 consisted of just a single regular season game with the Colts. Barrie drafted Matt in the ninth round of the 2006 OHL Priority Selection, 176th overall.

Over his OHL career, Stanisz scored 15 goals from the blue line while assisting on 73 more for 88 points in 256 regular season games. In the playoffs, he added 23 points in 50 games. He was traded from Barrie to Owen Sound just before the start of the 2010-11 season, in exchange for a pick at the CHL Import Draft.

During his successful career in the Ontario Hockey League, Matt helped the Colts to the finals in 2009-10 before falling to the Windsor Spitfires. The following year, he helped the Attack to a championship, beating the Mississauga Majors in the finals. Both advanced to the Memorial Cup tournament with Mississauga hosting. Neither would take the title.

Undrafted to the National Hockey League, Stanisz played four years of university hockey after graduating from the OHL. He played with the Carleton University Ravens from 2011-12 to 2014-15. In his first year, Matt was named to the OUA All-Rookie Team. The following year, and in 2014-15, he was named a Second Team All-Star. In 2013-14, Stanisz filled out the First Team roster.

Since 2015-16, he has played in the ECHL with three different teams. In 2016-17, Stanisz started the year with the Indy Fuel. After 35 games, he switched to the Elmira Jackals where he played another 25 games. Matt did not complete in the Kelly Cup playoffs in either of his two seasons in the league.

Manchester Storm

Also known as the Go Goodwins Manchester Storm, the team was an expansion franchise for the 2015-16 Elite Ice Hockey League season. In their first year in the EIHL, the Storm finished ninth out of ten and did not qualify for the post season. This past season, 2016-17, the team moved up a position and lost in the quarter-final.

Home games for the club are played at the Altrincham Ice Dome in Altrincham, England, a 2,200 seat venue that opened in 2007. The EIHL expands from ten to twelve teams for 2017-18 with the addition of the Guildford Flames and the Milton Keynes Lightning.